NORTHWEST COAST ART, AND PICTISH ART REVISITED:

 This is a column that is just for fun. I am not trying to claim any sort of discovery or insight, it is just about a coincidence that I find entrancing.

Line drawing of the 'Pictish Beast.' Internet image, public domain.

On 5 February 2017, I published a column on RockArtBlog titled An Ancient Pictish Water Monster’s Resemblance to the Sea Wolf of Northwest Coast Indian Art. In this column I am going to revisit that subject because the similarity still intrigues me. First, I will state again that I do not see any possibility of contact between the people of ancient Scotland and the tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America. I am not implying any connection between the images, I am just fascinated by their similarities.

'Pictish Beast' carved on the Maiden Stone. Illustration from aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

First, I present the animal symbol known as the ‘Pictish Beast.’ It is found carved in relief on rock slabs known as ‘Pictish Symbol Stones.’

“Pictish symbol stones are of two broad types, long known as Class I and Class II. The symbols on Class I stones are incised, whereas those on the class II stones are carved in relief.” (Cummings 1995:126) These carvings range from a simple line image to wonderfully intricate carved designs with a broad range of content, but the most recognized symbols have been catalogued.

Carved 'Pictish Beast.' Internet image, public domain.

“Some fifty different Pictish symbols have been recognized. These include animal’s heads, birds (eagle, goose), other animals (fish, serpent, boar, bull, dog), and the ‘Pictish Beast’ (often referred to as an elephant, but more probably a stylized dolphin), and a variety of inorganic designs.” (Cummings 1995:126) It would not, of course, be an elephant. Of the dolphins around Scotland the Bottlenose dolphin is common and the shape of its head most closely matches the ‘Pictish Beast.’

Spouting dolphin. Image from Dolphin Watch Cruises.

“The Pictish Beast symbol is characterized by an elongated, sinuous body that typically adopts a horizontal or diagonal orientation, evoking a swimming or serpentine post. Its head features long jaws or a beak-like snout that curls outward at the tip, often accompanied by a lappet indicated by one or two lines. A prominent crest or mane runs along the back in many depictions adding to the creature’s distinctive silhouette. The limbs end in scroll-like or spiraled forms resembling flippers or coiled feet, while the tail is usually drooping and spiral-ended, sometimes reduced to a simple line. The body is frequently infilled with decorative elements such as interlace, fretwork, or spirals, rendered in incised lines of varying depth that contribute to a stylized rather than a naturalistic style.” (Grokipedia vO.2) Assuming that the image can be identified as a Bottlenose Dolphin, what is called the ‘crest’ was probably inspired by the dolphin spouting, the spray of water when it exhales through its blowhole.

The ‘tail’ may be, in fact, the dolphins dorsal fin (or may have been added by the artists because animals have tails), and the ornate coiled legs are the dolphins flippers and flukes.

“On symbol stones, the Beast measures up to 1-2 meters in length, scaled to the slabs dimentions, and appears on both Class I (incised) and Class II (relief) stones.” (Grokipedia vO.2)

Line drawing of Sea Wolves. Nainamo, British Columbia. Internet image, public domain.

Which brings me to Vancouver Island off of the coast of British Columbia in Canada. I have been to petroglyphs sites there that have creatures often identified as Sea Wolves that have a lot in common with the ‘Pictish Beast.’ Generally the resemblances are in the head and the sinuous torso of the animal. Now, let me repeat, I know that they cannot be related in any way, but I love the synchronicity of this. There are images of these from sites on Sproat Lake, Nainamo, and Gabriola Island, five kilometers offshore from Nainamo.

Sea Wolf, Petroglyph Park, Nainamo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Photograph by Peter Faris, 1997.

Sea Wolf, Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Photograph by Peter Faris, 1997.

Another wonderful concidence is that the ‘Pictish Beast’ is usually thought to represent a dolphin, and the people who inhabited Vancouver Island, the Kwakwaka’waks, Nuu-chah-nulth, and the Coastal Salish peoples are maritime cultures like the other tribes of the Northwest Coast. Could their Sea Wolf also be a dolphin?

Head of a Sea Wolf, Gabriola Island, off of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Image from Gabriola: Petroglyph Island, by Mary and Ted Bentley, Sono Nis Press, Nelson British Columbia, Canada, 1981, page 26.

I have speculated in the past that the sea wolves might indeed be just that, actual wolves who have adapted to a somewhat maritime lifestyle. But the images identified as sea wolves could equally well be images of dolphins like the ‘Pictish Beast.’

NOTE 1: Some images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

NOTE2:  Grok4, cited below as a reference, is a Large Language Model from SpaceXAI.

REFERENCES:

Cummings, W. A., 1995, The Age of the Picts, Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., Gloucestershire, UK.

Faris, Peter, 2017, An Ancient Pictish Water Monster’s Resemblance to the Sea Wolf of Northwest Coast Indian Art, 5 February 2017, RockArtBlog, https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7760124847746733855/2882785802379020134

Grok4, Pictish Beast, Grokipedia vO.2. https://grokipedia.com/page/Pictish_Beast.

Owen, Kathryn, 2022, Pictish Beasts, 19 September 2022, https://www.livingfield.co.uk/art/pictish-beasts/. Accessed online 19 September 2026.